Top 5 things Kaepernick does not do well

This is my list of the top-five things Colin Kaepernick does not do well. I’d be interested in reading your list.

1. Throw accurately. His completion percentage during the regular season was 58.4, fourth-worst among the 28 quarterbacks who played more than 600 snaps. Only three QBs were less accurate than Kaepernick — Eli Manning, Terrelle Pryor and Geno Smith. During the playoffs, Kaepernick’s completion percentage dropped to 54.9, the lowest completion percentage of all 12 QBs who played in the playoffs. You have to wonder if Kaepernick would complete less than 50 percent of his passes if he couldn’t throw to Anquan Boldin and Michael Crabtree, big receivers with great hands who can catch imperfectly thrown passes. What percentage of Kaepernick’s passes would he complete if he had to throw to small receivers like Doug Baldwin and Golden Tate, the receivers Russell Wilson throws to?

2. Set and re-set his feet in the pocket. Kaepernick may have the worst pocket footwork of any starting quarterback in the NFL. If a pass rusher comes close to him, Kaepernick seems more than happy to throw off his back foot — that’s what happened on the final play of the NFC Championship against the Seahawks. When Kaepernick’s first read isn’t open, he loses all technique and relies on his speed and his arm-strength to bail him out, like an infielder racing toward home plate to throw out a bunter. Kaepernick rarely syncs his lower body with his upper body, and he does not re-set his feet and scan the field like other quarterbacks do. I’ve never even seen Kaepernick practice doing that. But I’ve seen Drew Brees and Russell Wilson practice doing that before every game I’ve seen them play in person.

3. See the entire field during the play. Every game last season, it seemed there was at least one play when Kaepernick did not see Vernon Davis wide open sprinting deep, or Kaepernick didn’t see some other receiver who was wide open. That’s because Kaepernick tends to decide to whom he’s going to throw before the center snaps the ball. That’s part of the reason he struggles so severely inside the opponent’s 10-yard line — 54.2 passer rating. Kaepernick doesn’t seem to see everything and he doesn’t seem comfortable making decisions during plays. Great quarterbacks see everything and make decisions during plays.

4. Throw with touch. Every pass Kaepernick throws is a rocket. Bill Walsh would disapprove. Kaepernick does not throw a ball that is easy to catch, does not throw with touch. That contributes to his innaccuracy and his poor passing numbers near the opponent’s goal line